Fragments
by Tiny Q
Summary: Something strange is going down in Hogwarts, and Ginny Weasley, and to her disgust, Draco Malfoy, are the only ones who seem to notice. Smiling Snape? Celebrity Jeopardy? Harry with a mullet? What's going on?
1. Bouncing Ferrets

Title: Fragments

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Hi! Yes I know, I shouldn't be staring a new fic until I finish 'Guilty by Association' but don't you worry, it won't interfere! I have had this one for a while and I need something a little more light hearted. I think Peeves acts a lot like Gollum from _The Hobbit_ but oh well! I own nothing but the plot! Got that?! So don't sue me!

**Fragments**

**Chapter 1**

**Bouncing Ferrets**

'Oh my god!' Ginny Weasley thought frantically as she ran through the halls of Hogwarts. 'I am soooo late! Snape is going to kill me!' The halls were deserted and Ginny tore down them faster than she ever had before. Yet she knew that it would still be a few more minutes before she actually reached her potions class.

'Why don't I just skip?' she asked herself as she rounded another corner, leaving skid marks from her black soled boots. 'Because then I'll be in even more trouble,' she hissed at herself in response. 

When Ginny had woken up she had thought it would be a good day, though the events that were unfolding as of late made her realize that perhaps she had been mistaken. Breakfast had gone by without a hitch but on her way to Herbology she had managed to drop all her textbooks in a large mud puddle (It had been raining that night). 

Despite the gloomy weather that usually made her oddly cheerful, Ginny couldn't help but feel a little down. That was how she had wound up in Hagrid's hut. After lunch she had been walking outside by herself to brood over life, and it had begun to rain once again. At first she didn't mind but it began to hail and she had had to take shelter for fear of getting a concussion.

At the end of the hallway were the stairs to the dungeons and Ginny almost whooped with happiness but managed to contain herself. Putting on a bit of extra speed she sprinted down the last stretch. She was two meters from the stairs when she felt her arm brush against something as cold as death which made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Oh looky what we have here!" Peeves said in his cheery voice as he came out from behind a tapestry. "A wittle late student. Now shall we let her pass or not?" He floated around her and hovered right before her, barring her only way to class. 

Ginny clutched her arm where the apparition had brushed against it. It felt as though it had just been dunked into a large bucket of ice water and was now beginning to thaw. Ginny had been in contact with the many ghosts of Hogwarts before but she never remembered it feeling like this. Curious as to what had happened she reached out and brushed her fingers through his middle. 

"Hey!" he said angrily and backed up a bit. "No touchy!" Ginny pulled her fingers back before he had even said anything and clutched them to her chest. The feeling was now as though her fingers had been in an ice box for a few hours and were throbbing. ''What the hell?' she wondered and took a step back from the ghost, not wanting to feel the horrible feeling again.

The ghost didn't seem to notice her reaction and was now pretending to think. His eyes finally lit up and he looked down at her with a twisted grin. "I don't think the wittle student is going to leave. She is going to stay here and keep me company!" 

"Oh come on Peeves," she said exasperatedly, "I have potions! Snape will give me detention if I'm late!" She looked up at the stubborn look on the poltergeist's face. "I promise to keep you company after class." 

Peeves seemed to contemplate this for a moment and was about to reply when Ginny heard a drawling voice, from behind the ghost, interrupt him. 

"What's wrong Weasel? You're not scared of Peeves are you?" Ginny leaned to the right and looked past the ghost and straight into the eyes of Draco Malfoy, who was standing a few steps below the landing she was on. 

"None of your business, Malfoy," she hissed.  "Go bother someone else."

"Ooooooh!" Peeves squealed happily as he whirled around to see who Ginny was talking to. "It's Ferret Boy!"

"Shut up!" he snapped at the ghost. Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from laughing out loud, but it didn't work. She let out a short laugh but quickly covered her mouth with her hands. Peeves began to spin around her in joy, sending cold chills all up her body.

"What are you laughing at Weasel?" he demanded angrily.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

"She's laughing at the Ferret Boy!" Peeves chirped, still spinning.

"Shut up you stupid ghost," Malfoy hissed at him but kept his cold eyes on Ginny's.

Peeves let out a shout of rage and charged at him. Unfortunately Ginny was standing between the two and he decided to pass through her rather than go around her. Ginny let out a yelp of surprise, it felt as though she had just fallen into the lake in the middle of winter. Everything ached with cold and it seemed as though her soul was dying. 'Ridiculous!' she told herself but let out a short scream as she felt herself lose her balance and fall down the stairs into Malfoy who was looking up at the ghost with a mixture of horror and amusement. 

"Hey!" Malfoy cried out in a startled voice and caught her in his arms; the momentum from her fall, however, along with Peeves who had now passed through Malfoy, caused him to lose his balance as well. Before either of them could react they were both falling headlong down the stairs with Peeves floating in the spot they had occupied moments before, howling at them to come back.

'Oh god,' Ginny's mind screamed. Everything was a blur and she could feel herself hitting the walls, steps and Malfoy but knew that it was the landing that would hurt the most. The tumbling seemed to never end and she caught herself wondering if perhaps it never would. That she would just fall for eternity. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden impact of the ground as they hit the bottom of the stairs in a great heap. Ginny's head smacked the tile hard as she landed and everything went black.

~*~

"Weasley wake up," she heard someone say. It sounded so far off and almost passed it off as nothing until she felt someone shake her. Hard.

"Wha..." she mumbled and tried to open her eyes. The lights were so bright that they hurt and she quickly closed them again.

"Wake up!" the voice snapped again and shook her harder than before. She attempted to open her eyes again to find that the blinding light had been replaced with the normal dim light of the halls of Hogwarts. Blinking rapidly her eyes finally focused in of the face that moments before had been a blur.

Ginny let out a squeak of surprise as she realized that it was Malfoy's face that was looking closely at hers. As soon as he saw that she was awake he leaned back on his hunches and looked at her crossly.

"You almost killed me you know!" he said angrily. 

"It wasn't my fault!" she said hotly. "If you hadn't pissed off Peeves I wouldn't have fallen."

"Whatever," he hissed then stood up, leaving Ginny to scramble up on her own. As she stood she swayed on the spot with a sudden case of vertigo. Shrugging it off she looked around the bottom of the stairs and found her bag lying on the last step. Angrily snatching it up she turned and headed in the direction of her potions class.

"Where do you think you're going Weasley?" Malfoy sneered from beside her. He had also begun heading in the direction of Snape's potions class.

"Potions," she snapped and continued to walk.

"Impossible," he sneered.

"Excuse me?" she hissed a little startled at his statement.

"I have potions right now. And unless you got transferred into my class, which I highly doubt, then you are stupidly going to the wrong class," he said and Ginny looked at him as though he had grown a second head. "But then we can't expect anything more from a Weasley now can we?"

"What the hell is your problem?" she hissed, stopping in the middle of the deserted hall. "I have potions now, so _you_ are the one who is stupidly going to the wrong class."

"No," he hissed back standing directly across from her. "I have had potions all year at this time."

"So have I," she snapped then continued to walk down the hall.

"Where are you going?" he growled and walked after her.

"I am going to prove to you that I am right and you are wrong," she said crisply and continued to walk without looking back. Malfoy walked beside her and the two of them stayed quiet the entire time, glaring at each other every now and then.

During the walk, Ginny looked around and noticed that there was something just not right about her surroundings. Everything seemed dimmer and less _real_ some how. At first she had just brushed it off but the closer they got to the potions classroom the more she noticed it. Then it struck her. The floors of the halls were different. Looking down she realized with horror that all of the tiles had been replaced by red carpet.

"What the hell?" she gasped out loud, coming to a sudden stop. Malfoy looked at her sharply and stopped a few paces away. "The floors." He looked down then looked back up at her.

"What's going on around here?" he asked her then looked past her and pointed at the walls. "All the paintings are blurry."

"What?" she asked and turned and looked for herself. Sure enough, all the paintings they had passed were blurry. All you could see were mixed colors and the outlines of what was once in the image. "What happened?"

"How am I supposed to know?" he snapped, then cocked his head to the right. "Do you hear that?" he asked her suddenly.

"Hear what?" she replied, looking at him as though he had gone crazy. But under the circumstances she wouldn't have blamed him.

"_Laughter_," he said in disbelief. 

"In the dungeons?" she asked. "That's like saying brooms don't fly."

He looked at her darkly then quickly walked towards the sound of the supposed laughter.

"Come on," he called to her. "It's coming from Snape's room."

'What the hell?' she wondered, not for the first time, and ran to catch up with his quick stride. As they approached Ginny heard the laughter too but she couldn't believe her ears. Within moments the two of them were standing before the door to the potions classroom which seemed to be echoing with mirth. Without looking at Ginny, Malfoy pushed the door open and all the laughter stopped. 

"Ginny! Draco!" someone said happily as they stepped into the room. "We have all been waiting for you!"

Ginny looked towards the source of the voice and nearly screamed in horror. There, standing at the head of the class, was Professor Severus Snape. But he no longer looked like the greasy haired professor she loved to hate. No, the Snape that stood before her had a large, genuine smile on his face, his hair had been washed and put up in dreads and he was wearing purple and red instead of his usual black.

"What the-" she heard Malfoy start from beside her but he stopped himself and looked around. Ginny followed his gaze to see all of his class and her own sitting about the room blowing bubbles out of their wands.

"We're learning how to make a bubble potion. Isn't that right Harry?" Snape said cheerfully, waving his own wand causing a stream of bubbles to flow out.

"Right Professor!" Harry said cheerfully from the front row.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. Ginny stood there dumbfounded and was suddenly struck with a terrible feeling of deja-vu. 

"Oh no," Ginny said with dread. "This can not be happening."

"What do you mean?" Malfoy sneered sarcastically from beside her. "This sort of stuff happens all the time here."

"I think I dreamt this," she muttered and looked wide eyed at the scenario unfolding before her.

~*~

A/N: So what did you think??  In the words of Ed the Sock: Is it smash or trash?? You decide whether it continues or not! Reviews please!


	2. Lost

Title: Fragments 

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Wow, people thought this was smash. Happy Day! So here's the second chapter. Sorry it took so long. Lots of homework lately. Bah! And if it seems like it doesn't make sense heed this: It will have a plot and it is supposed to be crazy. You'll see why soon. Other than that I have nothing to say. Oh! Except this: I own nothing! 

**Fragments **

**Chapter 2**

**Lost **

            "What do you mean you think you dreamt this?" Malfoy sneered at her from under his breath. She looked over at him; he had gone a little paler than usual. 

            "Never mind," she hissed and turned towards the smiling, dread wearing Snape who had begun spinning giddily around, sending bubbles flying out in a circle. The rest of the class soon followed suit leaving Ginny and Malfoy standing in the middle of it all. 

            "Maybe someone cursed them," he said to her as he dodged out of the way of Pansy Parkinson who twirled towards him.

            "With a bubble charm?" she asked doubtfully. "That still doesn't explain why we have classes at the same time."

            "I don't know," he hissed back. "Let's just get out of here. All this spinning is making me feel sick."

            "Typical Slytherin," she muttered and followed him towards the door. Just as he was reaching for the handle, the bell went off to end classes. Except, it wasn't the usual bell, it sounded more like someone cheering. The whole class stopped moving and instantly stampeded towards the door. 

            "Practice your bubble potions!" Snape called cheerfully as Ginny felt herself being shoved towards the door. At the frame her feet gave way beneath her and she felt herself begin to fall. 'Oh god,' she thought with dread, closing her eyes. 'I'm going to be trampled.' 

            Her worst thoughts were interrupted by Malfoy's cold laughter. It took her a moment to realize that no one was stepping on her. Opening her eyes she looked around to find herself on the now red carpeted floor of the hall. There was no one in sight except Malfoy. 

            "Where did everyone go?" she asked him, pulling herself up off the ground. 

            "Dunno," he said after regaining his composure. "They all just disappeared as they passed through the door." 

            She shook her head in disbelief and reached into her pocket for her wand to get the dirt off herself. Only, it wasn't there. 'This can't be happening,' she thought and began to frantically search her pockets.

            "Weasley," Malfoy drawled as he lent against the wall. "What the hell are you doing?"

            "My wand is gone!" she snapped and threw her bag off and began to search in there for it as well.

            "Only a Weas-" he stopped suddenly and she looked up at him. He was patting himself and shoving his hands into all his pockets.

            "What's wrong?" she asked in a childish voice. "Lost your wand too? I thought only a Weasley was stupid enough to lose their wand. That is what you were going to say, wasn't it?" 

            "Shut up," he snapped. "I must have lost it when you pushed me down the stairs. Perfect."

            "I wasn't the one who was insulting Peeves," she hissed. "It's all your fault you know. Nothing would have happened if you would have just left us alone." She sighed. "Are you sure you didn't leave it in your dorm or something stupid like that?"

            "No," he said in disgust. He turned on his heel and began striding down the hall, deeper into the dungeons. 

            "Where are you going?" she called angrily.

            "My common room," he sneered over his shoulder, not pausing in his trek.

            "Why?"

            "To get away from _you_. There is a limit to how much red headed stupidity I can take." He rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. 

            "Asshole," she hissed under her breath. She had never seen the Slytherin Common Room entrance and she wasn't exactly ecstatic to find out where it was. She was about to turn and head towards her own Common Room when she heard crazed laughter coming from the hall Malfoy had gone down. Sighing in her mind, she rounded the corner to see Malfoy laughing at a brick wall.  

            "If I have 'Red Headed stupidity,' then what are you having? A blonde moment? Or is it common for Slytherins to laugh at brick walls?" He continued to laugh and turned to face her.

            "The Common Room's gone," he said, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. "Figures though, doesn't it?"

            Ginny shrugged, turned and headed back the way she had come from. Things were just getting to weird around here. 

            "Where are you going?" he asked and strided to catch up with her.

            "Gryfindor Common Room," she said simply.

            "I can't go in there," Malfoy hissed.

            "Why not?" she asked innocently. "I don't think anyone will notice you. I mean they don't usually anyways, right?"

~*~

            To Ginny, it seemed like they had been walking for hours (though it had only been ten minutes). It seemed as though they were lost. Every time they turned a corner it looked just like the hall they had been down before. She had always been scared that she would get lost in the dungeons, though she had never said anything about it to anyone. And in some twisted way she was glad to have Malfoy's company, even if he was a complete ass.

            "Are you sure you know where you're going?" she asked quietly as they turned another corner to discover a hall that looked exactly like the last. 

            "Of course I do," he sneered, but his voice seemed to lack its usual arrogance. 

            "Great," she sighed. "You've gotten us lost!" He simply glared at her and continued to walk. "Why don't we just go through one of these doors?" she asked, pointing to one of the multiple doors that seemed to line every hall they went down. "Cause it seems walking down multiple halls isn't helping much."

            "Whatever," he sighed and stopped walking. "Which one? They all look the same."

            "How about this one?" she asked and pointed to a door that was to the right of them. He shrugged and she reached forward and opened it. Inside it looked like another hall. Shrugging she walked through the threshold followed closely by Malfoy. There was a flash of blinding light and when she opened her eyes again she found herself standing at a podium between Malfoy and a man with graying hair in a black suit. 

            They seemed to be on some sort of Muggle stage. There was a depressed looking man standing behind a large podium across from them and there was a large sign behind him that read: Jeopardy. She couldn't see past the stage though, there simply wasn't anything there. 

            "This can't be real," Ginny muttered.

            "Where are we?" Malfoy demanded quietly.

            "It's a fake game show from a television show called Saturday Night Live," Ginny whispered back in disbelief. "My friends are total muggle fanatics. We watched this over the summer every Saturday night."  

            "Welcome back, to _Celebrity Jeopardy_," the depressed looking man interrupted them in a game show voice. "I still can't figure out why you have returned," the man said and turned towards Malfoy. "Let's take a look at the scores. In second place we have Draco Malfoy, who has a disappointing -500 dollars." 

            "What the hell is going on?" Malfoy growled.

            "_Temper_ Mr. Malfoy," the man scolded in a skeptical voice then turned to Ginny. "In first place we have Ginny Weasley, who has an _astonishing _15 dollars."

            "Um... hi..." Ginny said nervously and waved her right hand a little. The man sighed slightly then turned his attention to the final contestant, the greying man in the black suit.

            "And finally, in last place, we have Sean Connery, who has an intriguing -1,239,699 dollars. An all time low."

            "So we meet again, _Trebek_," the man said with a heavy accent. "Never thought I'd see the day."

            "Neither did I," the man named Trebek sighed miserably. "Now, let's take a look at the categories. Potent Potables. Animals that say "moo" (note, all of the animals are cows). What season is it? Magical Me. Colors that start with "yell". Where is Tom Riddle? And finally, Sweet or Sour." 

            Ginny felt someone grab her arm and turned to see Malfoy holding on firmly, his eyes slightly larger than usual. "Let's get out of here," he said quietly. Ginny nodded her head vigorously and they both turned away from their podiums and looked towards the large oak door from once they came.

            "Ms. Weasley it's your tu-" the game show host stopped short. "And you're leaving. Perfect. What kind of game is this when there is only _one _contestant?! I QUIT!!" 

            "Let's hurry," Ginny whispered and both she and Malfoy quickened their steps away from the stage towards the exit, Malfoy still holding firmly onto her arm. They both pushed the door open and, with the same blinding flash of light they had seen before, found themselves back in the hall.

            "Well that was... interesting," Ginny said slowly.

            "Interesting?" Malfoy demanded. "You're dreams and memories have taken over Hogwarts and you think it's _interesting_?! You're even more daft than I thought Weasley!"

            "Stuff it!" Ginny snapped. "Maybe some of your dreams are around here too!"

            "I doubt it," Malfoy snarled. "You just stop picking doors."

            "Well fine then," Ginny said exasperatedly. "_You_ pick a door then."

            "I will," Malfoy said stubbornly and walked a short distance to the next door to the right. He opened it, glanced in, then slammed it shut, wide-eyed. "Nope. Not that one," he said in an unusually high pitched voice.

            Ginny frowned and shoved him out of the way. She cautiously opened the door, peaked inside and gasped. There were thousands of white ferrets all bouncing around the room making odd squeaking noises. They suddenly all stopped moving and looked at her standing in the doorway with their black beady eyes. Somehow they seemed to grin, and then all at once, charged at the door as one huge mass.

            Ginny let out an odd squeak of her own and slammed the door shut. She could hear the sound of thousands of ferrets slamming against the door and for a moment feared they might break it down.

            "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Malfoy screamed, looking quite pale. "You almost let them out!"

            Ginny shook her head and started down the hall. "I know. You almost had to have _another_ family reunion. What hells of parties they must make." She heard Malfoy growl and then his footsteps told her he was following her. 

            "That wasn't one of mine," he said after a moment.

            "No," she responded softly. "It was mine." She saw Malfoy shake his head in disgust but he remained silent. They continued to walk down the multiple, and might I add identical, halls.

            'This place isn't that scary,' Ginny thought after a moment. 'I mean if all they have down here are smiling Snapes, SNL skits and bouncing ferrets then there isn't anything down here to be afraid of, now is there?' The two of them rounded yet another corner and they both stopped in surprise. Before them, were _stairs_.

            "See," Malfoy drawled. "I knew where we were going all along."

            "Right," she said sarcastically with a drawl of her own and went happily towards the stairs.

            "What time is it?" she asked him as they entered the Main Entrance Hall. 

            "Can't afford a watch Weasley?" he sneered.

            "Yes, I can," she hissed. "I broke mine yesterday. I haven't had a chance to get a new one."

            "A likely story," he said and made a point of showing off his very expensive looking watch. 'He is such a spoiled brat,' Ginny thought in disgust. 'I wonder what he would be like if he never had any money. Nicer I bet.' "It's time for afternoon tea," he said.

            "Well then, let's get some food," she said and headed towards the Great Hall. "I'm famished." She noticed that Malfoy didn't argue and continued on her way. 

            As they approached the doors Ginny began to hear something that sounded suspiciously like music. 'Muggle music.' In front of the door she paused and glanced at Malfoy who gave her a confused look.  She shrugged at him and pushed the door open. 

            Loud, cheerful music assaulted her ears and she looked around wide eyed. The entire hall had been decorated in streamers and twinkling lights, and there was sparkly confetti raining down from the still gloomy looking sky. 

            Students were dancing on the table tops, the benches and the floor, all singing on the tops of their lungs. The oddest sight of all though, was Professor McGonagall in a red sequent cocktail dress that looked straight out of the thirties. She had her hair down in erotic waves and was dancing happily on top of the head table, an extremely rare smile on her face. 

            "Moola Moola Moola Moolaaaaaa! Everything is good and everybody's your friend!" The entire body of people sang.  

            "Jordy Birch?" Ginny muttered as she looked into the horrified eyes of Draco Malfoy. "Crazy!"

~*~

A/N: Well that's it! ~Dodges rotten food~ Hey! Anyways, hoped you enjoyed it! I would just like to say thanks to the following people: **Lady Feylene(**Not me...)**, Joan**(I'll give him back... Eventually...)**, Taty-Chelle, the bumbling firefly, Ninir, The Goddess of Caffeine, Sony Lewison, ~*Crystal Lily*~, chimerical(**furry spatula...?)**, StuntWoman, Ruby Nemisis, and Chained Dove**(don't worry)**. **


	3. Anonymous Phone Calls

Title: Guilty By Association 

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Hi! Sorry this took soooo long to come out, but I have been busy with school, finishing 'Guilty By Association' and getting a sun tan. Laughs sheepishly Oh. And not to mention that ffnet has been _down_ for the past few weeks! Anyhoo, here is another chapter of insanity, written especially for all of you (extra long for your reading enjoyment). Hope you enjoy! Oh yes, I OWN NOTHING!

****

Fragments 

Chapter 3

Anonymous Phone Calls

Ginny Weasley looked around the Great Hall and could barely suppress a grin. Anyway you looked at it, it was just funny. Students dancing everywhere with Professor McGonagall leading them. Looking over at Malfoy she saw the blond slightly swaying with the music. Ginny rose an eyebrow and looked at him with an amused grin. After a moment he realized that she was looking at him.

"Let's get out of here!" he yelled after a moment, which made Ginny grin wider.

"Don't you like the music, Malfoy?" she yelled back. "I think you're having a pretty good time."

"I do _not_ like muggle music!" he snapped over the sound. "And it's too bloody loud!" he concluded, crossing his arms. Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back towards the doors. Having the feeling that Malfoy liked the music more than he was letting on.

As the doors to the Great Hall closed, the sound of Jordy Birch drifted into nothingness. Ginny looked around and found herself once again alone with Malfoy. He stopped suddenly and turned to her, grabbing her wrist.

"Alright Weasley," he said in a dangerous voice, his blue-grey eyes flashing. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she sneered and tried to jerk her wrist back, only causing him to hold on tighter. "Hey-" she started but was cut off. 

"Don't you think it's a little _odd_, Weasley," he hissed, pulling her closer to him. "That your dreams and imagination have taken over Hogwarts? How there seems to be nothing of me here but my body?" Ginny stopped struggling, she hadn't really thought of it that way.

"What are you saying?" she asked in confusion.

"I'm _saying_, Weasley," he sneered back, "That I don't think we are in Hogwarts anymore."

"What?!" she gasped. "Then where in Merlin's name are we?"

"Tell me," he started, "Have you ever seen the Slytherin common room entrance?"

"Uh, no," she said, curious as to what he was getting at.

"And did you see that old bat Moody turn me into a ferret and bounce me around?" he asked seriously.

"Yes," she said with a giggle, remembering it. "You made a very cute--Ow!" she was cut off once again by him twisting her wrist and glaring angrily at her. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Anyway, I am assuming that the game show had some sort of impact in your life." She nodded slightly, remembering how hard she and her friends laughed. "And I am also assuming that your fantasies about Snape are your childish way to make him seem less threatening." She frowned at that but kept her mouth shut. "Same goes for McGonagall. And did you ever envision Hogwarts with red carpet?"  


She paused for a moment to think. Memories came to the surface of her mind and with a slight frown she said: "Yes. When I was little I always thought it had red carpet from the stories Bill and Charlie would tell me."

"How quaint," he said sarcastically. She glared at him but he ignored her and continued. "And I suppose you never looked at the paintings in the dungeons."

"No," she said, realizing that she really hadn't. "But then . . . what does it all mean? Where are we?"

"I think," he paused, frowning, "That we are in your mind."

"WHAT?!" she screamed, causing him to frown even more. "How the _hell_ are we in my _mind_?! And why are _you_ here?!"

"I don't know!" he snapped back. "Something probably happened when you knocked me down the stairs."

"It was Peeves!" she bellowed. "And it was _your_ fault!" 

"That old ghost is crazy," he snarled.

"That's it," Ginny said slowly, realization hitting her. "It was _Peeves_."

"Well you already said he "knocked" you down the stairs. What does that have to do with me being trapped in your head?" he hissed.

"You've touched a ghost before, right?" He rolled his eyes at her. "I'll take that as a yes. It just feels all cold right?" He nodded impatiently. "Well when I touched Peeves, it felt like I was dying inside."

"That's impossible," he sneered. "Ghosts can't kill you by you touching them."

"I know that," she snapped. "They also can't push you down the _stairs_, can they?"

"Either way, how the hell do I get out of here?" he sighed.

"_You_?" she demanded. "What about _me_?"

"It's _your_ mind Weasley," he hissed.

"So?" she demanded. "Doesn't mean I want to stay in it. I like the waking world just fine, thank you very much."

"Whatever," he said, finally letting go of her wrist. She began to rub it. "Let's just go to your bloody common room. It's where you spend most of your time, right?" She nodded. "Maybe we'll find a way out there."

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I assume you know the way there?"

"But of course," he said valiantly.

"Why am I not surprised," she muttered shaking her head.

~*~

After a few flights of stairs in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, Ginny began to hear giggling. She looked towards Malfoy, who was walking beside her, to see that he heard it as well. 

"Now what?" he asked her, irritation in his voice.

"Dunno," she said with a shrug. "But I think it is coming from down here." She walked towards the hall that led to Professor Flitwick's Charms classroom. As they approached the door she confirmed that the giggling was definitely coming from inside for the sound got much louder and more refined. 

She reached out her hand to open the door when Malfoy's hand shot out and grabbed it. She looked up at him with a mixture of aggravation and curiosity.

"Before we go in there," he drawled, looking at her coolly. "What do you think of Flitwick?"

"He's short and funny," she said simply, taking her hand out of his grasp and opening the door. She felt her jaw drop and saw Malfoy do the same. 

Inside the room were about three dozen dwarfs, goblins and other short creatures and people. They were all lounging in the desks or just standing about giggling insanely at what appeared to be a muggle television. She could see the show _Friends_ was playing on the screen but couldn't figure out why they were laughing so hard. They seemed to be the new episodes, not the old. 

She shifted her eyes to the front of the classroom where Professor Flitwick was standing on his usual pile of books. Above his head was a giant sign that read: _Professor Flitwick's Club for Vertically Challenged People_ in bold red letters. 

None of the occupants seemed to notice the two of them standing in the doorway for they continued their insane giggling. Ginny simply stood there staring into the room. 'It must be true then,' she thought numbly. 'I dreamt this two weeks ago. We must be in my mind. But how? And why is _Malfoy_ here? What if he is nothing more than a part of me?' she thought, 'What would _that_ mean?' After a moment she felt Malfoy pry her fingers off the doorknob (which she was holding onto very tightly) and close the door. She turned and looked at him, still wide eyed.

"You're a twisted child, you know that, right, Weasley?" he asked, glancing at the door wearily. All Ginny could do was nod her head then once again continue the trek to her common room, Malfoy following close behind.

~*~

After the Flitwick incident, it did not take long for Ginny to get to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Instead of wearing her usual pink dress, the Fat Lady was wearing blue. Ginny rose her eyebrow at this but decided not to say anything to Malfoy. 'Did I ever actually think that?' she wondered but her musings were cut short.

"Password dears?" the Fat Lady asked. Malfoy turned and looked at her expectantly.

"Uh . . ." Ginny started. 'What was it again?' she thought a little worried. It wasn't like her to forget the password. 

"You don't know it, do you?" Malfoy sneered after a moment. "We are in your mind and you don't remember. Are you by chance related to Longbottom?"

Ginny looked at him angrily but again turned to the Fat Lady, deciding to take a chance. "Snootchy Bootchies?" she said tentatively. To her immense relief the painting swung forward to reveal the entrance to the common room. She grinned at Malfoy and stuck her tongue out at him, then entered. 

Upon entering, Ginny was a little disturbed to see it full. Everywhere she looked she saw people waving at her and smiling. None of them however, seemed to notice Malfoy, much to her relief. If they really were in her mind then they had better becareful. She had imagined some pretty twisted ways to seek revenge on him. 

"Hey Ginny!" she heard a familiar voice call. She looked to her left and took a double take. Fred and George were standing in their usual corner, wearing their school robes. She walked over to them, Malfoy trailing behind, looking around.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked skeptically. "You left last year."

"We're baaaaack!" George said beaming.

"Great huh?" said Fred.

"Um . . . sure," Ginny said slowly, wondering why her mind thought they would return. Sure it was fun having them around. There was rarely a dull moment. Yet she still wanted them to have success in their lives and not become professional students or something like that.

"Oh my god," she heard Malfoy mutter, interrupting her thoughts. 

"Excuse me," she said to the twins and turned towards him. "What?" she asked.

"It's Potter," he started, staring wide eyed at something.

"What about him?" Ginny asked impatiently. 'It's the _common_ room for crying out loud! He's always in here.'

"He has a _mullet_!" he said in wide-eyed-disbelief.

"What?!" she snapped back. "That's impo-" she stopped short after following his gaze and saw Harry with a mullet. And a greasy one no less. She gasped Grace-style. "Oh my god!"

"Hey Ginny!" her brother, Ron, called her over from beside the mullet clad Harry. She gulped then slowly walked towards them. "Hey gin," her brother greeted her. "You wanna go to the Yule Ball with Harry?" he asked. She heard Malfoy laugh behind her.

"Um . . ." she started. 'This is just like my bloody third year,' she thought. 'Except now I have no one to go with and I don't like _him_ anymore.' She glanced at the mullet boy beside her brother. "I'm already going with someone."

"Who?" Ron asked in disbelief. Harry simply stared at her. 'I can't say Neville," she thought, so she picked then next best man.

"With him," she said, gesturing over her shoulder at Malfoy who instantly stopped laughing. "Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy and _my_ sister?" Ron demanded, turning red. 

"Yup," Ginny chirped. "Ain't it great? Got to go!" She hooked her hand back and grabbed a still stunned Malfoy's arm. She then pulled him up to her dorm room. It was deserted and looked just as it should. 

"What the hell was that?" he demanded after a moment as she began to search her room for anything unusual. 

"Oh come on," she sighed, looking under her bed. "It's not like they're real. They aren't going to remember any of it."

"Yeah, but I will," he said in a daze. 

"It wouldn't be _that_ bad," she hissed and threw a pillow from the top of her bed at him. 

"Hey!" he called and threw the pillow back, hitting her in the face. Ginny made a squeak and reached down to grab another pillow, not letting her eyes leave Malfoy who was now trying to hide behind the bedpost. Her hand clasped around what seemed to be a book. Looking down she let out a horrified scream and flung it at the wall opposite her as thought the object had burnt her hand. It hit it with a loud 'thunk' then fell to the floor. 'Oh no,' she thought with horror, staring at the book. 'He can't be here as well.'

"What has gotten into you Weasley?" Malfoy drawled as he walked over and picked up the book. "It's _just_ a diary." He looked down at it. "Hey, isn't this the one that Potter had back in my second year? What are you doing with Potter's diary?" He moved to open it.

"DON'T!" she shrieked, leaping over the bed and knocking it from his hands. "It's not Harry's! It's Tom's!"

"Tom?" he asked confused. "Tom who?"

"Tom Riddle!" she snapped. "AKA Voldemort." He looked down at the book.

"Oh," was all he said.

There was a sudden noise that caused Ginny to jump and look around frantically.

"What now?" he asked her exasperatedly.

"Don't you _hear_ that?" she asked. He just raised his eyebrows at her. "It sounds like some sort of ringing." She said, walking towards the door, the diary laying on the ground. Forgotten.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To find out what it is," she said and walked out of her dorm and back down to the common room. She let out a gasp of surprise when she realized everyone was gone.

"Where did they all go?" she asked Malfoy as he stopped just behind her.

"How am I supposed to know, Weasley," he sneered. "It's _your_ mind. Not mine. I'm just along for the ride."

"Lucky me," she muttered darkly and proceeded to leave the room. Once back in the halls they walked in silence, with Ginny leading them.

"So what is it that you hear exactly?" Malfoy said after a few minutes.

Ginny stopped. "You really can't hear it?" she asked, turning to face him. He shook his head. 'I wonder why?' she thought. "It's some sort of ringing but it has pauses in it." She said softly. "And it's really bloody annoying," she hissed after a moment.

He seemed to be looking at her almost sympathetically but she brushed it off as a bored look. 'Why would Malfoy offer me sympathy,' she thought and continued towards the ringing noise, which was becoming ever louder and more distinct. Malfoy followed her after a moment and began walking to her left.

They rounded a corner to their right and Ginny stopped short, Malfoy right along side her.

"Is that . . ." he trailed off staring at the two figures before them.

"Dumbledore and Voldemort wearing baseball caps?" she asked. He nodded slowly. "Yup. I think I dreamt this a few months ago." She grinned and regarded the scene. Alubus Dumbledore and Voldemort were both crouched on the ground alongside a phoenix and a large snake. Both were wearing baseball-caps (Dumbledore's was red, Voldemort's green) and seemed about ready to race the creatures against each other.

"My Fawkes can beat you stupid old snake _any_ day," Dumbledore said like one school boy taunting another.

"Nu-uh," Voldemort said in much the same tone. "Nagini is _ten_ times better than your prissy looking bird."

Malfoy turned to Ginny and looked at her. "Why the hell are we standing here?" he asked.

"Because it might help us figure a way out of here," she said then added, "Besides, I can't remember how it ends." At this she saw Malfoy roll his eyes. She ignored him and turned her attention back to the boyish looking men.

"Hey! My "Prissy looking bird" made you _crappy_ wand!" Dumbledore snapped.

"So?" Voldemort hissed. "My "stupid old snake" tried to _eat_ the Boy Who Lived. Beat that!"

"My bird _saved_ the Boy Who Lived," he hissed back.

"Dude!" Voldemort gasped with a mixture of shock and astonishment. 

It was at this moment that the two creatures before them decided that their owners were not serious about the race and decided to take matters into their own hands. Or rather beak and fangs. They shot out without warning and darted down the hall, both at exactly the same point as the other. 

"And they're off!" Lee Jordan's voice suddenly boomed through the hallway. "It looks like they are at a complete stalemate. Neither seems to be able to pull ahead of the other!" Dumbledore and Voldemort stopped bickering, looked at each other then took off down the hall after their pets. The creatures rounded a corner and disappeared from sight, the two men following suit.

"Oh," Ginny said simply. "That's what happened." Malfoy sighed in annoyance. 

"Figures," he muttered then turned and faced her. "Isn't there something you were chasing after?" he asked her pointedly.

She paused for a moment and listened for the noise. It was still there, and sounded closer than ever. "This way," she said simply and headed off down the hall in the opposite direction the others had gone. A second latter she rounded a corner, Malfoy behind her and stopped in front of a door to an empty classroom.

"In there?" he asked her. She nodded, took a deep breath and opened the door. The sound increased exponentially and she covered her ears. Malfoy now seemed to hear it as well for her did the same. The classroom was empty except for what appeared to be a muggle telephone booth in the center of the room.

"It's a telephone!" she said as realization struck her.

"So?" Malfoy called. "Now what? How do you get it to shut up?!"

Rolling her eyes, Ginny walked over to the booth, opened the door and grabbed the phone, which was shaking slightly as it rung. She paused a moment then lifted it off the receiver and raised it to her ear. Unlike her brother, Ginny knew enough about muggle technology to work it if the need arose. The ringing stopped mid ring and Malfoy lowered his hands and walked up to the door of the booth.

"What is it?" he asked her but she ignored him. She could hear breathing on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" she asked nervously. Who could be phoning her in her head?

"Ginny," a horribly familiar voice said. "It is so good to hear your voice again after all these years. I am waiting for you, just as I said I would. You know where I am. I can't wai-" 

Ginny ripped the phone from her ear and stumbled backwards in fright. Malfoy, who was standing in the doorway fell to the ground in surprise. She went right down with him. 

"Weasley," he growled, "What the hell?! Get off me!" 

Ginny looked down and vaguely realized she was sitting on Malfoy's chest. She shifted and sat on the ground beside him. He sat up and looked at her angrily.

"What was that all about?" he snarled. 

"He's here," Ginny said numbly, staring at the phone which was now hanging by the cord, swinging slightly.

"What?" Malfoy asked in confusion. "Who's here?" 

"He's in my head," she said, not listening to him. "He's still here. He's been here the whole time."

"Who?!" he demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to look at him. She looked into his blue-grey eyes.

"Tom Riddle."

~*~

A/N: He He He! I told you there would be a plot eventually. Hey stop rolling your eyes like that! Anyhoo I would like to thank:** lilqtpye**(Um . . . r/hr!), **Satans Little Princess**,** ~*Crystal Lily*~**, **Lee Velviet**,** Mione G**,** elen**, **Leyna**(oopsies), **Artemis Warrior**, **Joan**, **tajuki**, **Purple and B-chan**(Uhh . . . Penguin cookies . . .? What is it with you people and _penguins_?!?!?!) and **tab**! 

Thank you ever so much! You're a pleasure! He He He! Reviews Please!


	4. Werewolves of London, eh Malfoy?

Title: Fragments

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Hi! I am SO sorry that I haven't posted this yet! I was working on it over my vacation but just finished writing it a few weeks ago. The I had to type the thing up. ~sigh~ I was going to hold off on posting it, but then I got a very inspirational review on another story and I just had to edit the thing and post it, just for her! I haven't read the first three chapters in a while, so it might be a little off or have a few repeated themes. I apologize in advance. If it is that terribly wrong, complain and I will go back and fix it! Okey-day! Enough of all this . . .

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot! It's mine! On with . . . 

****

Fragments

Chapter 4

Werewolves of London, eh Malfoy?

Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy sat in silence, staring at the swinging phone receiver. Yet Ginny didn't hear the silence. Her ears were ringing and her mind was roaring with questions. Many of which she feared the answer.

'How can this be happening?' she thought, panic rising in her chest. 'How can he still be here? How come I didn't realize it? Is this why I've been dragged into my mind? To face Riddle?' She pondered this for a moment. If it was true, then why was Malfoy here? It just didn't add up. And why were so many of her dreams around? She shuddered slightly as she realized just how embarrassing it was for her family's enemy to witness the inner workings of her mind. Her hopes and dreams. She just hoped-

"Weasley!" Ginny's body jerked as though electrocuted as Malfoy's voice sliced through the hurricane of thoughts raging in her head. She turned and looked at him to realize that he had been talking to her for a while. Or at least attempting to. She looked at him, her eyes widening as the full reality of the situation washed over her.

"Are you listening now?" he asked, looking slightly vexed. She nodded numbly, not blinking. "Or should I leave you alone to continue making faces at the telephone?"

Ginny blinked once. Twice. Three times. Something about what he had said should offend her, a voice in the back of her head insisted. Then it hit her. "Hey!" she sputtered. "I don-"

"Welcome back to reality," he interrupted smoothly. He looked around the vacant classroom with the exceptions of themselves and the phone booth. "Or at least this excuse for a reality."

She looked at him. 'Was I going over the edge?' she thought, silently suspecting that she was. 'But then why did he pull me back?' She thought for a moment. 'Probably because if I lose it, he's stuck here indefinitely.'

"So are you ready to tell me what the hell is going on?" Malfoy asked her.

"Huh?" she said with a mental start. 'Almost slipped back,' she thought with more than a little horror.

"What's going on?" he repeated.

"I don't know," she replied truthfully.

"Well how is it that you came across Tom Riddle? I doubt he was just floating about and thought: "Oh look at the cute little red head! Let's invade her mind!"," Ginny looked at him, the words 'Cute little red head', echoing in her mind. He looked at her expectantly.

"He was in a diary," she said slowly, shifting her eyes from him to the far corner of the room. "The same diary you picked up in my dorm. He placed his sixteen year old memory inside it. I suspect you father told you all about it. How it enabled him top reopen the Chamber of Secrets." She glanced at him, expecting to see him nodding in agreement or looking smug. Instead his brow was furrowed and he was looking at her with confused disbelief.

"My father told me that a book was the key to opening the Chamber and that he had given it to someone during my second year. He never told me that Lord Voldemort was in it, or that he gave it to _you_," he said quietly, an impassive look passing over his face.

"Well he did," she snapped. "And Tom Riddle took me over and made me kill roosters and open that damned chamber. And then at the end of the year he took my life energy to bring himself out of the diary and tried to kill Harry." Ginny realized that her voice had gone shrill and stopped talking, shivering at the sudden chill she felt.

"He didn't succeed, did he?" Malfoy asked. "To kill Potter I mean."

"What do you think?" she hissed, looking at him from under the read hair that had fallen into her face.

"Hey," he said, raising his hands defensively. "That kid has survived so many things, how do I know that he hasn't died and been brought back to life?" Ginny rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so Riddle is in your head. So what do we do now?"

"I don't know," she responded, secretly dreading what she would have to do.

"Well, he said that he wanted to see you," Malfoy started. "So why don't we go and find-"

"We can't," Ginny said quickly before Malfoy could continue. "I don't remember where the entrance is," she added lamely. She knew full well where it was. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But she sure as hell didn't want to go there.

"How can you not remember?" he asked skeptically. Ginny felt a pang of dread. Could he tell she was lying?

"I was unconscious at the time," she said, waving her hand. What was one more lie?

"Right," he said slowly, looking at her oddly. Finally he looked away and stood up. "Since we have nothing better to do, I suggest we look for Riddle. Perhaps he knows a way out."

'That's what I'm dreading,' Ginny thought, getting to her feet and following the platinum blond out the door, leaving the telephone behind, receiver still swinging.

~*~

"This is such a waste of time, Malfoy," Ginny groaned. They had been walking about the school for the past three hours in search of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

They had encountered many strange things in the time that Ginny's hands had never felt so clammy. Lockheart being chased by an army of angry pixies clad in army drab. Harry, Ron and Hermione singing Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' while head banging down the hall. Hippogriffs dancing the River Dance. These were just to name a few.

"What else would you care to do?" he hissed at her, pulling open a door to his left revealing a frail looking rat being chased by a large, black, lean dog. Ginny watched Malfoy's eyes widen in confusion and shut the door. He paused for a moment then continued: "Sit around with Potter and his mullet?"

"Well . . ." Ginny began sarcastically then stopped at Malfoy's look of disbelief. "I'm not _that_ obsessed!" she said defensively.

"Right," Malfoy said, looking suspiciously at the door to his right, as though debating to open it. "You only stalk him because it gives you something to do."

"I do _not_ stalk Harry!" Ginny said angrily.

"Sure you don't," he replied, deciding to ignore the door and walk towards the hall to the right instead. "You just-" he stopped as he turned into the hall.

"Now what?" Ginny said exasperatedly and took three strides to stand beside him. 

What she saw made her debate to burst out laughing or run and hide under a desk for the rest of her life. In the end she did neither, just stood and watched as Professor Lupin, her second year DADA teacher, dance about with a pack of wolves. He was signing on the tops of his lungs.

"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand. Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain. He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's. Going to get himself a big dish of beef chow mein. AWWWOOOOO! Werewolves of London! AWWWOOOOO!" 

"Lets not go that way," Malfoy squeaked, going extremely pale. Ginny looked at him strangely. 'Is Malfoy scared of Werewolves?' she wondered, then dismissed the thought as she turned around and realized that by going the other way they would be headed straight towards Tom. 

"No. I think past the wolves is the best way," she said in what she hopped to be a reasonable voice. 

"What are you talking about Weasley?!" he shouted back with barely controlled panic in his voice. "There's nothing behind us!"

"No," she said firmly. "I have this gut feeling that he is past the wolves."

"Like hell he is," Malfoy said, his voice still unnaturally high. "Come on." With that he forcefully grabbed her right wrist and pulled her away from Lupin and the wolves down the other hall. Towards Tom Riddle.

"You're hurting me!" she yelped in surprise, trying her hardest to stop him from moving her. Unfortunately for her, he was quite a bit stronger.

"Then stop struggling!" he hissed back, breathing heavier, she noted to her satisfaction, than usual. "Honestly, Weasley! You'd think I was dragging you off the edge of the world or something!"

'You are!' she screamed at him in her mind. 'I don't want to see him again! I _can't_ see him again!' With this in mind she struggled even more to get free.

"Weasley," Malfoy growled, but never got the chance to continue his sentence, for as they rounded the corner, a vine shot out and wrapped itself around his mouth.

Ginny felt Malfoy's grip on her arm slip away as another vine shot out and wrapped itself about the boy's body. She looked towards the source of the vine and saw a giant plant settled in an alcove of the wall. It was large and dark green teaming with vines and prickly looking leaves.

She looked back towards Malfoy who was now struggling against his captor. Oddly enough, none of the vines came near her. In seconds more vines shot out towards him and soon lifted him off his feet and into the air.

"Malfoy!" she screamed, looking frantically about for something to free him with. The walls were bare. She thought briefly about running back around the corner to grab and axe from a suit of armor. In a second she dropped it for fear of when she returned the plant would no longer be there. Malfoy along with it. 'If only I had my wand!' she thought in panic. 'A simple charm would repel the plant in an instant.'

"Weasley!" Malfoy screamed. She looked up. He had managed to pry off the vine covering his mouth but already others were moving in on his hands. He fought them off. "Weasley! You've got to stop fighting him!"

"Who?!" she screamed back. An odd noise had filled the room like a wind storm. She glanced around and saw a tornado moving towards them from down the hall behind them. 

"Riddle!" he responded, struggling harder. "Riddle! You have to see him! Stop fighting it or you'll be going alone!"

"What do you mean alone?!" she yelled, a greater sense of panic over taking her now. Could you die in your mind? Her robes were billowing violently in the oncoming wind storm, her red hair blurring her vision. 

"I'll be dead! And I am betting that Riddle wants you alive!" he shouted down. She could hear the panic in his voice. And the fear. "Stop fighting it!"

"I can't!" she shrieked. "I can't do it! I can't go in there!"

"Come on Weasley!" he screamed back, frustration growing in his voice as he struggled. "You can't be scared of him. It's all in your _mind_!"

"You're in my mind too!" she screamed as the tornado got ever closer. Soon she would be swept away into its depths. "And what do you care anyway?" She could feel tears stinging her eyes. 'Don't cry,' she begged herself. 'Don't cry.' "You just want to get out of here!" She finally shrieked.

"That's not true!" His words sliced through the screaming storm and the panic and fear in her mind. She stopped moving and stared up at him, stunned. "You've kind of-" he stopped, pretending to be distracted by another vine by kicking at it with a newly freed foot.

"Yes?" she screamed back at him, eyes wide.

"Grown on me," he finished grudgingly so quietly that she almost didn't hear him. With that, Ginny collapsed to her knees, dropping her head to her hands. In that instant the wind stopped abruptly and she heard Malfoy yelp as he fell to the ground with a thud. The plant had disappeared as well.

In her mind, Ginny screamed and cried with fear and rage. Why did she have to face him? Why did Riddle pick her? Why did Malfoy's dad give her the diary? Why did she have to grow on his son? Why-

"Weasley?" Malfoy's voice cut through her mind's torrent of thoughts. She lifted her head from her hands and stared up at him from the ground. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were extremely rumpled. Other than that, he looked none worse for wear. "Are you alright?"

"No," she said hoarsely. "I don't want to see him again!"

Malfoy's features hardened from the impassive mask he had worn before. "Well you have too if you want to get out of here."

"I know," she whispered, diverting her eyes from him. "But I just don't want to."

"Well, Weasley," Malfoy drawled, attempting to straighten his hair that was once smoothed slick across his head. "Sometimes in life, we have to do things we don't want to do."

Ginny looked up at him once more to see the seriousness on his face. "That was pretty philosophical of you, Malfoy," she said, a grin tugging at her lips.

He stared down at her and after a moment began to grin as well. "Well I am a pretty philosophical person really. I just don't usually have someone to share it with . . ." he trailed off, an odd look on his face that Ginny found quite humorous.

She began to giggle and soon the giggling turned to laughter. Suddenly, the entire absurdity of the whole day struck her with full force. She was soon clutching her sides as gasping for breath.

"What _are_ you laughing at?" Malfoy demanded. 

Ginny glanced up and realized that he thought she was laughing at him. She felt a pang of guilt.

"All of this," she said, bringing her laughter under control. "Everything that has happened. Singing teachers, bouncing ferrets, pixie armies, Celebrity Jeopardy, Harry with a mullet." At this Malfoy let out a snort of laughter. Ginny began to laugh once more as the image returned to her mind's eye. "Harry with a mullet!"

Within a moment both of them were laughing so hard, a passerby would have thought they were high. Or seriously deranged. Take your pick.

Ginny was the first to regain her composure and took a double take as she realized just how much nicer Malfoy looked when he laughed. 'And hotter,' a voice in her mind added and she felt her face grow hot.

He stopped laughing and looked down at her. She smiled up at him and almost gasped in surprise when he smiled back. If she thought he looked good when he laughed, it was nothing compared to when he smiled. She stared up at him in awe until he struck out his right hand towards her.

That simple gesture was an unofficial, unspoken agreement that they were, at least for now, friends. Not that either of them would admit it to the other, but they needed to work together to get out of here. Ginny didn't mind at all. In fact, she was relieved. 

"Lets get his over with, shall we?" he asked, still smiling that wondrous smile.

"Yes," she said breathlessly, taking his offered hand and allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. "Let's get back to the world where Harry's hair is simply messy, not greasy."

And with that, they headed off to meet Riddle.

~*~

(A/N: Now if I hadn't made you wait so long, I would have ended it here. But since I feel bad, I will continue!)

The trek to the bathroom only took a few minutes, yet it wasn't the death walk had Ginny feared it would be. With laughter still on the tip of her tongue and Malfoy's smile in her memory, she found she had more courage. She felt as though nothing could stop her. Not even a Dark-Lord-in-Training.

"It's in here," Ginny said, pointing to the entrance of the girl's bathroom. There was a large sign over head reading: 'Chamber of Secrets! Admission 1 Galleon' in bold, green letters.

"You knew where it was the whole time, didn't you?" Malfoy sneered slightly.

Ginny blushed. "What would you do if I said yes?" she asked. All he did was roll his eyes and open the door. He allowed her to walk in first and she shuttered slightly at the sight of the familiar room.

"The infamous Chamber of Secrets was in the _girls_ bathroom all along?" Malfoy asked in disbelief.

"I know," Ginny said conspiratorially. "What does that say for the acclaimed heterosexuality of good old Salazar Slytherin, eh?"

Malfoy snorted but did not have a chance to respond for at that moment, Moaning Myrtle floated out of her stall. Unlike everyone else Ginny had seen so far, Myrtle looked exactly the same as in the waking world. She floated over to them, a glum look on her semitransparent face. 

"Oh," Myrtle said when she saw Ginny. "It's you." Her eyes flicked to Malfoy. "You two want to see the Chamber of Secrets?" They both nodded. "Two Galleons please."

Ginny nudged Malfoy. "Well, pay the girl," she said. Malfoy looked at her darkly then pulled two Galleons from his pocket. He then handed them to the ghost.

"So what made you decide to go into the tourist business?" Ginny asked Myrtle as the former Hogwarts student pulled a snake out of the toilet next to hers and dirrected it towards the sink.

"I figured I might as well exploit my death to it's fullest potential," Myrtle responded in her usual moppey voice. "It helps me raise funds for the People Who Are Now Ghosts and Were Killed by Riddle Society I am going to start."

"How much have you raised so far?" Ginny asked conversationally.

"Two Galleons."

"Oh."

The snake hissed at the little emblem of the snake, which began to some to life. "Can't you people just leave me alone?" it asked as it opened the Chamber entrance in the pipe which grew big enough for the both of them to go in.

"Well, in you get," Myrtle said in the cheeriest voice Ginny had ever heard her use, which was dismal at best.

The ghost drifted up behind Ginny, who was standing along side Malfoy, staring into the entrance, and pushed the two adolescents in. Ginny let out a gasp of surprise and heard Malfoy do the same as they toppled over and plunged head first into the slide like tunnel.

'Oh Merlin!' her mind screamed in panic. 'Why head first? WHY HEAD FIRST?! The first thing you learn it to never go down head first! If there's something blocking the entrance I'll break my neck!' Trying to contain the over whelming fear that was twisting inside her gut, Ginny attempted to pay attention to her surroundings. The slide like pipe was slimier than she remembered, and longer.

As if someone with a largely ironic sense of humor had heard her thoughts, Ginny felt the slide fall away from beneath her. She hit the ground and felt the air whoosh out of her. A second latter, Malfoy landed on top of her.

"Eww," he moaned, and Ginny saw him looking disdainfully down at his robes. She opened her mouth to say something witty but realized that she couldn't breath instead. He was sitting on the back of her chest, and her already oxygen deprived lungs were screaming for air. She began to frantically swing her arms behind her and swat at him.

"I'm not that heavy Weasley," he drawled, glancing down. Through spotted vision she saw him do a double take and felt him quickly scramble off. In an instant she was curled into a ball, gasping for breath while the blond sat on the ground looking at her with the tiniest bit if guilt. 'Quite a large step,' she thought cynically as her breathing returned to normal.

Ginny opened her mouth to bitch at him but was cut off by someone politely clearing their throat further down the tunnel. She looked up and for the first time took a look at her surroundings. They were not in the dank and dreary tunnel that she remembered, but in a brightly lit one with souvenir stands and a small snake pulled carriage, before which stood only one person. Wormtail.

Now despite what her brother would have liked, Ginny knew all about Scabbers being Peter Pettigrew. She had 'accidentally' overheard a few key conversations. Well accidentally wasn't exactly the right word. Let's face it. Ginny Weasley is a full fledged eavesdropper. And she would recognize Ron's former Rat anywhere.

Malfoy seemed to recognize the rat-man as well for he turned to her in furrowed disbelief. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?" he demanded. All Ginny could do was shrug and begin to cautiously approach the man.

"Would you two like a ride to the Chamber?" he asked pleasantly enough. Ginny weighed her options. She honestly didn't know where the Chamber entrance was and was sure that she did not want to be wandering around down her like they had in the dungeons.

"Sure," she said, and felt Malfoy glare daggers in her direction. She ignored him.

"Ten Galleons, please," Wormtail said in a very oily voice.

"Well, pay the man," she said to Malfoy who began to mutter darkly and fish about his robes until he had ten gold coins in hand. He reluctantly shoved them towards the former rat. 

"Thank you, you may be seated." Ginny and Malfoy boarded the carriage which began to move as soon as Wormtail was seated at the helm. She glanced at Malfoy who seemed to be trying to bore holes through the back of coachman's head with his stare. Ginny frowned.

"We are now exiting the tunnel and entering the chamber in which Professor Lockheart blasted the ceiling and wiped his own memory," Wormtail said suddenly as they entered the new chamber.

"Uh, that's nice," Ginny said slowly, raising her eyebrows.

"What are you doing?" Malfoy demanded of the man instead.

"Commentating," Wormtail said simply. "Part of the job."

"Well, bloody stop it," he snapped.

"Right you are," the other man said cheerfully. "The customer is always right. That's what the Master says." 

With that he didn't speak until they reached the serpent laced doors. Ginny dreaded seeing them despite her new found courage.

"Entrance fee is one hundred Galleons," Wormtail said after bringing the snake led carriage to a halt.

"Damn money pit," Ginny muttered then turned to Malfoy. "Well, pay the man."

"I'm not made out of money, woman," he said crossly.

"Well you sure act like it," she snapped back. "So are you telling me that you have no money?"

"Not that much," he said grumpily.

"Well then I guess you are just going to have to sing to get in," Wormtail said gleefully.

"Sign?!" Ginny and Malfoy demanded at the same time.

"Oh yes. I haven't heard Tweeter and the Monkey Man in ages!"

Malfoy looked at her in horror.

"Maybe we don't have too," Ginny said slowly, remembering something. She jumped off the carriage and shot her right hand into the air. "Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" she shouted, then spun three times, came to a stop, clapped her hands and shouted: "Olay!" 

Malfoy's horror stricken face twisted with disbelief. "Well that was . . . interesting," he said slowly, backing away from her.

"Bloody weird, that was," Wormtail offered, wide-eyed.

"I had a dream where I did that and . . ." she trailed off, feeling both male's eyes on her as though she were insane. "Like you could have come up with anything better?" she asked skeptically.

Neither had a chance to respond for a screaming filled the hall and the still mullet clad Harry crashed from the ceiling to Ginny's feet.

"Oooh," he hissed. "Did you hear that Doppler effect?" He rose to his feet and bowed before Ginny. "You called, milady?"

She stared at him, wide-eyed as Malfoy began to snicker behind her. 'Great,' she thought darkly. 'I finally have Harry wrapped around my finger tip and I don't like him anymore.' With a heavy sigh she said: "Harry, could you open the Chamber door please?"

"Your wish is my command," Harry said faithfully. He then turned towards the door and hissed something in Parseltongue. The doors magically opened.

"Weasley," Malfoy said, coming up beside her. "Tell Potter to punch himself in the head. I've always wanted to see him do that."

"No!" Ginny said in astonishment.

"Please?" he asked.

"No! Tell him yourself," she said more firmly. 

"Fine," he hissed and turned to Harry. "Potter, punch yourself in the head."

"Get bent, Malfoy," he growled and Ginny burst out laughing.

"Shut up," Malfoy sneered, cheeks going slightly pink. He then grabbed Ginny by the shoulders and pushed her towards the entrance. "Let's just get this over with. Ladies first."

Still laughing softly, Ginny walked towards the threshold. With a final breath she took the last step over it and entered the Chamber of Secrets.

Everything went black.

~*~

A/N: Ok, that was my supper long chapter of Fragments. Hope you all enjoyed it! I have the last chapter almost written up in my scribbler then to type it up, edit it, post it, write the epilogue, type that-OK! Enough of that! He He. I though it was one of the more dull chapters, but tried to add a bit extra twisted humor. But don't worry, the grand finale is coming up with, yes you guessed it! Riddle, sword fights and feminist movements! Ha Ha Ha. Ok, sorry. You'll just have to be patient little people and wait. Or you could review and encourage me to write faster . . . ~hint hint~ Which reminds me! 

Much thankies to: 

**stormyfire, Tainted Fire, **uh, the person who had no name . . .**, ****Azalai**(I like penguins too. Penguin stew, Penguin cookies, Penguin . . . JK!)**, A Super Tiny Teddy thats is really bored and can't be bothered to sign in...in other words...Tiny Teddy!**(Why?! Why must you people always threaten me?!?! It's crazy making! AHH! JK!)**, cherries, crazyone16, Kselenity, akaSailor Mars, paranoidchick 13**(Yeah, I was thinking about doing that . . . oh well.)**, Bluegirl18**(I never really thought about it being like the Cell. I guess it is, eh? Oh well.)**, Lunard**(Merci Beaucoup!)**, Aneli**, **Rachel **and **DrFoxyMoron**! Yes, yes, thank you all!

****


	5. Rubber Chickens!

Title: Fragments

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Hello again! Look! It's here! The last chapter! And it didn't take me three months this time! Well it's not the last chapter exactly cause there's going to be an epilogue after this. But I want to post the next 'Muggle Music' chapter before I post that. So much to do. So little time. ~sigh~ I am so hard done by . . . JK! 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot! It's mine! On with . . . 

****

Fragments

Chapter 5

Rubber Chickens?!

Everywhere around Ginny Weasley was blackness. It took her a moment to realize that her eyes were closed. Mentally sighing, she opened them. She found that she lay at the foot of Salazar Slytherin's statue as she had when Tom Riddle had first pulled himself out of her. 'Great,' she thought coldly, 'It wasn't a dream.'

She could feel someone stating into her back and with great effort, rolled her head up to see who it was. Draco Malfoy was staring down at her with a stunned expression on him face. He seemed quite limp, as though all the arrogance, pride and prestige had just drained out of him. ( http://members.tripod.com/~tiny_q/QA/qa49.html - A/N: The picture came first. Then this scene. It's really old, that's why it looks like crap.)

Their eyes met and they stared at each other. Neither speaking nor moving. The only sound the distant drip, drip of some fluid.

"My father caused all this, didn't he?" Malfoy finally whispered, so softly that Ginny almost didn't hear him. "All if it."

"In a way," she whispered back, still laying on the ground. "But it doesn't really matter now. It's all in the past. Nothing can be done to change it."

"But that's just it. I could have." She stared up at him blankly. At this he continued. "I saw it all. How he used your energy to come to life. How Potter came down here to save you. How he defeated Tom Riddle then he walked over to you, woke you up and left. But it wasn't you, it was like a ghost of your younger self. You just lay there. I thought you were dead. And I did nothing to stop it."

"Malfoy-" she started but he continued as though he hadn't heard her.

"I can't believe I never realized what happened." He was staring past her now, to some place of Malfoy mental angst. "And here I walked around as though it were some large joke. People could have died. _You_ could have died." 

"Malfoy, you were twelve," Ginny said a little louder than before. Something wasn't right about this. Malfoy's didn't have mental breakdowns. 

"Doesn't matter," he said slowly. "It still happened. Twice."

"You were brainwashed by your father," she responded even more loudly than before. "All kids are. They look up to their parents and think of them as something to imitate because they don't know any better."

"Then why haven't I figured it out for sixteen years?" he muttered, eyes going oddly large. "Why have I been walking around like my father's clone?"

"Well, it has to happen sometime and it's better now than latter on," she said softly. "And your father really grained it into you. I mean, you are his only child. His heir."

"I still should have known better," he said.

"Why?" she asked firmly, yet gently. "Because you are Draco Malfoy? Everyone goes through a crisis of faith at our age. Why should you be any different or receive special treatment? Just be glad that you figured it out now rather than after you made some huge mistake. Like becoming a Death Eater and be doomed to live a life like Snape's."

He continued to stare past her, then all of a sudden his eyes snapped back into focus. He looked at her with what seemed to be a new found clarity.

"You know Weasley," he said, a grin tugging at his lips. "I can't believe I am saying this, but I think you're right."

"I can't believe you said it either," she muttered, then grinned up at him as he continued.

"Perhaps this is why I was dragged into this," he said, his grin broadening. "To realize that I am better than my father. That he is wrong."

"Perhaps," Ginny agreed. It made sense in fact. Perhaps they were both here to learn something. That thought scared her slightly more than she thought it would. Did that mean there was someone out there holding all the cards?

Her thoughts were disrupted, as they seemed to frequently be around here, as she felt Malfoy grab both her hands and pull her to her feet. He was now smiling fully and she felt the world tip oddly as vertigo struck her. Malfoy hung on.

"Aww, isn't that sweet," a sickeningly familiar voice cut through the air. Ginny, regaining her composure, stepped away from Malfoy and looked around the chamber for the voice. "Romeo and Juliet have gotten over their differences and will soon be on the path to their inevitable deaths."

"Show yourself, Riddle," Ginny snapped, sounding much braver than she felt. Her eyes darted around until a cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows to the right and came into view.

"Tempter, Ginny. Temper," the figure drawled. "Is that any way to treat an old friend?" With that, he pulled back his hood to reveal Tom Riddle in all his dangerous beauty. Just as Ginny remembered him. Just as she saw him in her dreams. 

He walked closer to her, looking her up and down from head to foot. He stopped a few feet from her and smiled his heart shattering smile. 'How could something so beautiful be something so deadly?' she found herself wondering, looking in awe at the young man before her. Then slapped herself in disgust. 'Control yourself girl,' she hissed. 'He's the enemy, remember?'

"You've changed," Riddle said after a moment, continuing to look at her appreciatively.

"You haven't," Ginny hissed back, forgetting the fact that she had just been drooling over his appearance. He may look pretty, but inside his soul was as black as night.

As he continued to stare at her, Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, feeling uncomfortable under his hawk like gaze. She felt like some rare item and he was the appraiser, calculating how to exploit her to his greatest profit. Unconsciously, she took a step closer to Malfoy, who was standing there in silent awe.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Are you just anther fragment of my mind because you seem to be more aware than the others were."

"Still clever as ever, Ginny," Riddle purred. "But not clever enough. No. I am not a part of your mind. And let me tell you, it's been hell staying here. You are really screwed up, you know that though, don't you?"

"Not as screwed up as you are," she snapped back. "What the fuck are you doing in my head?!"

"Funny you should ask that, because I was just about to tell you," Riddle smirked. Ginny narrowed her eyes and stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "I've been here ever since that blasted Potter destroyed my diary. I needed some place to go and you, my dear, were just what I needed. I have been bidding my time ever since. Trying to figure out exactly how to get back at him and how to see you again. 

"I was weak at first, so I just drifted through your mind, absorbing all that you are. Working out how to bring you in here. To me. It took me a while to realize that ghosts can scare the mind into comatose as long as you press on the right brain cells. It was an accident really, and I knew that if I pressed to hard you would die, taking myself along with you. Yet it was my only option so I waited until Peeves showed up and took my chance.

"For four years I have waited to see you again, my dear. Four long years, and now you will be mine."

"And how do you intend to make me yours?" Ginny snapped, feeling a chill pass through her. Once again, she stepped closer to Malfoy.

"Well at first I simply planned to keep you here, in your head. Then when I would tire of you I would take over your mind and body and return to the waking world. Rejoin my older self. Then you brought your friend with you," he said, looking darkly at Malfoy. "And I got a better idea."

"You mean you didn't bring him here?" Ginny asked in confusion, glancing at the boy in question. "Then why is he here?"

"Beats me," Riddle chuckled. "But I might as well take advantage of the situation. Instead of taking over your body, I will simply leave you both here and take over his." He laughed evilly. "But until then, you are mine to do with as I wish. And if you entertain me enough, perhaps I will allow you to return to your body along with me. But we'll see how that goes, shall we?" With that he took a menacing step towards her. Ginny felt the color drain from her face.

"I don't think so," Malfoy said suddenly, the first words he had said since Riddle's appearance. He stepped in front of Ginny, reaching behind to move her safely behind him. 

Her eyes widened.

So did Riddle's.

"Excuse me?" he gasped, staring at the blonde in disbelief. "Do you know what you're saying, and to whom?"

"I am saying that if you want Ginny, you have to come through me first. And I am talking to an egotistical prick who has spent too much time in a little girl's mind. No offence, Weasley," he added, glancing back.

"None taken," she said, too astonished to take offence.

"You'll regret you said that," Riddle hissed.

"I already regret a lot of things I have said," Malfoy hissed back. "Why not one more?"

The two of them stared each other in the eye. Too Ginny it was like a showdown from an old Muggle movie. She was extremely glad neither of them had a gun. Or at least she hoped neither of them did. Mainly Riddle.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Riddle finally asked, breaking eye contact and the silence that had descended. He took a step back.

"I have a feeling I do," Malfoy drawled, his arrogance slowly returning. Ginny smirked from behind him as she saw him bring himself up to full height. He was taller than Riddle by four inches.

"A duel?" Riddle asked.

"A duel," Malfoy agreed. "But I don't have a wand."

"You won't need one," Riddle said with a grin. He snapped his fingers and, with a flash of light, two swords appeared in his hands. He tossed one to Malfoy, who caught it with ease. "You do know how to use one I assume?"

"But of course," Malfoy drawled. "But do _you_?"

"Good," he responded, ignoring Malfoy's last comment. "But first," he turned his attention to Ginny who was watching the proceedings with interest. With a wave of his hand, Ginny found herself imprisoned in a crystal cage. She pounded on it.

"Hey!" her and Malfoy yelled as one. He spun around to look at her through the crystal. 

Riddle smirked. "It's for your own protection, Ginny," he said coldly. He waved his hand again and the crystal rose eight feet into the air. "This way you wont get caught in the crossfire. Nor can you interfere." He turned his eyes down from Ginny to Malfoy who was looking up at her warily. "So that's it. You win, you become her champion. If I win, I become hers."

"Sounds right to me," Malfoy said with a grin.

"What?!" Ginny shrieked. "This is so archaic! Battling for a woman! Talk about cliched, not to mention sexist!" She pounded on the crystal. "Let me down! I can fight for myself!"

"Gin," Malfoy called up to her. She stopped. It was the first time he had ever called her by her first name. Not to mention nickname. "Shut up for once. You sound like a feminist."

"She _is_ a feminist," Riddle sneered, glaring up at her. She gave him the finger.

"Am not," she yelled. "Now let me down!"

"I think you should stay up there," Malfoy called. "We wouldn't want you to break a nail!" Ginny sent him her dirtiest look then plopped herself down, cross-legged on the ground. There was nothing she could do but watch.

"How do we decide who wins?" Malfoy asked Riddle, turning his attention back to the task at hand.

"Who ever dies first, loses."

"Oh," he said flatly. "Alright then."

Ginny slapped herself in the head. "Men," she muttered darkly and proceeded to watch the fight.

"Shall we get this over with then?" Riddle asked, raising his sword in a respectful way. "I am eager to be in the real world again."

"I think you will find," Malfoy began, raising his sword as well. The both bowed. Riddle lunged forward. "That you won't be going anywhere near the real world," he grunted as he fought off Riddle's attack.

To Ginny it simply seemed like blurred movement. They were both moving so fast that she found it hard to follow. Back and forth they went, the sound of their swords clashing filling the air. She did not have an eye for sword fighting but she knew for sure was that Malfoy was backing up while Riddle was advancing. Not a good sign.

"Not so cocky anymore, are you blondie?" Riddle sneered as he proceeded to work Malfoy towards the wall. Yet the blonde simply grinned at him. They continued to fight. A moment latter what Malfoy was doing struck Ginny. He was simply defending, allowing Riddle to wear himself out. The longer she watched the more she realized that Draco was barely working while Riddle seemed to be going at it full swing.

A moment latter, Malfoy's back hit the wall.

"Ha!" Riddle laughed in triumph. "Not that great, are you?" He swung his sword back for a heavy blow. To Ginny's glee and Riddle's obvious horror, Malfoy shot his sword forward and deftly sliced at Riddle's chest. The adolescent Dark Lord roared with pain and rage and backed up a few hasty steps.

"Now who's not so great?" Malfoy sneered, beginning a series of quick attacks. All of which Riddle barely blocked. The last struck his arm, drawing blood. "Now who's the cocky bastard?" He grinned.

"Think you're so great, don't you?" Riddle growled. "Well, let's se how you handle this! SWITCH!" he called. In a flash of light, both swords were replaced.

"Lightsabers?" Ginny gasped, looking at the blue and red weapons. "How is that any better than a sword?"

"Good point," Riddle muttered sheepishly. "SWITCH!"

The lightsabers changed in a flash to become long sticks. Riddle immediately began to hit Malfoy on the head. Malfoy struggled to fight back but it seemed he had never been trained in using sticks while Riddle had. It was like whack-a-Malfoy. Hit after hit he took, yet only returned one or two of his own. 

Suddenly, Ginny got an idea.

"SWITCH!" she bellowed. The sticks flashed away to instantly return as gas powered chainsaws.

"That's _such_ an improvement, Weasley!" Malfoy screamed, barely missing the moving blades as Riddle swung the machine downward.

"Sorry!" she called down. "Just trying to help!"

"Well stop it!" he called back as he raised the weapon up and arced it down towards Riddle's head. 

Riddle's eyes widened with horror. So did his mouth. "SWITCH!" he screamed. The moving, roaring chainsaw flashed out of existence to be replaced by a sausage. "Ow," he said as the roll of processed meat struck his head. "Death by pastrami."

Malfoy frowned and hit him again. And again. And again. "Oh this is ridiculous!" he yelled at last. "SWITCH!"

Everyone stopped moving and stared at the object in the two teens' hands. Ginny began to laugh hysterically.

"A stuffed animal?" Riddle asked in disbelief. "You are going to beat me to death with a _stuffed animal_?!" 

"Not just any stuffed animal" Ginny gasped between laughs. "A stuffed _ferret_!"

"Shut up!" Draco snapped, looking down at the white ferret toy in his hand. He shook his head and tried again. "SWITCH!"

The stuffed ferrets turned into insanely large mallets.

"Now this is more like it!" Riddle said, still laughing. He raised the hammer up and brought it crashing down. Malfoy just moved out of the way and the mallet crashed to the ground and kept on going. It went through the tile on the floor to reveal a large, bottomless pit.

"SWITCH!" Riddle called in alarm as the mallet threatened to hip him over. The mallets flashed away.

"Rubber chickens?" Malfoy asked dryly. "And you were making fun of my stuffed ferrets?" He whipped the rubber chicken into Riddle's shoulder. It made a loud cracking noise. Ginny laughed. "SWITCH!"

The two rubber chickens disappeared to reappear in a flash as empty bottles of Molson Canadian beer. "I. Am. British," he hissed at the bottle in his hand. He then turned to Riddle who was still panting over the near fall and brought the bottle crashing down on the dark haired boy's head.

Riddle let out a startled cry as the bottle struck and shattered, cutting his right cheek. Looking down at the bottle in his own hand he began to raise it threateningly.

"SWITCH!" Malfoy screamed. The bottles turned to large wheels of cheese. He stared at it blankly for a moment.

"This is getting pathetic," Riddle suddenly shouted. "Enough of this!" He tossed his cheese to the ground and flung himself at Malfoy, fists-a-flying.

"Malfoy!" Ginny cried out in alarm as the blonde toppled down extremely close to the bottomless pit. The cheese wheel he had been holding moments before rolled over to the edge and went over. It hung in midair for a few seconds until gravity remembered it's job and pulled the dairy product down, out of sight. "Be careful!"

"I'm always careful, Weasley," he grunted, giving Riddle a nasty right hook. 

It seemed all the Slytherin's battles with her brother and Harry had paid off. Riddle was no match and was frankly getting his ass kicked. They fought on, getting bloodier and more bruised every second. A few times Ginny gasped as the two rolled extremely close to the edge of the pit.

"Get off me!" Malfoy finally snapped, flinging Riddle off of himself and getting warily to his feet. Riddle staggered to his own, wiping his bleeding lip with the back of his hand.

"I'll admit you were a tougher opponent that I first thought," Riddle hissed, pulling himself out of the hunch he had been in. "And if that bloody child hadn't killed my Basilisk, I would simply send his upon you." He took a few steps back. 

Malfoy snorted.

"But I am destined for greatness, just as my older self has proven," Riddle claimed, a wild look descending upon his once handsome features. Ginny shuddered. He no longer looked like the Tom she had known. He was wilder, crazy even. It was then that she realized he was broken. Nearly defeated. Her heart skipped a beat.

"I _will_ defeat you and rejoin him," Riddle said with misty glee, all the while backing up. "And we will be even more powerful than the world has ever dreamed!"

"There's just one problem with that," Malfoy began, stooping to pick up Riddle's fallen cheese wheel. "Your older self's a loser. He hides behind minions and magical creatures to do what he wants." He let out a cynical laugh. "The bloody git can't even kill the Boy Who Lived! Imagine! A Dark Lord who can't even defeat a child." Riddle looked horror struck and continued to back up slowly. Ever closer to the edge.

"He's right, Tom," Ginny called from her cage. "He's incompetent. Out-dated. Passe. You are better off going independent. Start a coffee shop. Start an evil empire of caffeine. It's more addictive than it seems. Or tobacco. There's a killer for you. You'd have a better shot at greatness with that than with him."

"LIES!" Riddle suddenly shrieked. He was shaking, his eyes darting between them madly. "ALL OF THEM! I am great! I will be great! No one can stop Lord Voldemort! NO ONE!"

"Hey Voldy," Malfoy called above the other boy's rants. "Catch."

"Huh?" he asked, the hysteria dropping away to be replaced with confusion. He barley had a chance to react as the cheese wheel came sailing towards him, hitting him full in the chest.

Tom Riddle fell back, and just as the first cheese wheel had, floated momentarily in the air before dropping into the pit. He let out a scream of blood curdling horror and dropped from sight. It was the last time Ginny ever saw him.

A moment latter she felt the crystal that was beneath her disappearing and felt herself fall. She let out a yelp of surprise and closed her eyes, preparing herself for the inevitable impact of the not too soft ground. 

"Gotcha!" Malfoy said cheerfully as she landed in his arms. She slowly opened her eyes and found them caught in his piercing blue-gray gaze. She saw the excitement there, and something else.

She was about to say: "My hero", but never got the chance for his lips were one hers in a blinding kiss. He tasted of sweat and blood. Sweat and blood, she realized, that had been for her. A feeling fluttered in her stomach, so strong and intense she let out a tiny gasp. 

Reality kicked in then, and Ginny realized she was being kissed madly by the most handsome guy she had ever seen. Not to mention one who had just defeated her worst nightmare and saved her life. And so she kissed his back with all the passion and intensity she could muster to match his own.

And in the waking world, Ginny Weasley's eyes flew open.

~*~

A/N: So. Was it all just a dream?? Hmm . . . Dunno . . . Well actually I do. But you'll just have to wait until the epilogue to find out! I'm so mean. It wasn't as funny as I wanted it to be, but oh well. ~runs away crying~

Much thanks to: **Stormyfire, Azalai**(I think that perhaps I will join you . . .)**, **Uh . . . the person who once again had no name . . .**, txt-eva, VirtualFaerie**(Oui, c'est toi! Ok, my french sucks. Never really paid much attention for the 8 years I took it. You were right, as usual. ~grin~)**, Angel Black**(I agree! Humor is so great!)**, supergirl**(You get the camera . . .)**, Lunard**(Well it was a bit faster . . .)**, KAOS**(Very interesting choice of language. ~backs up slowly~ Now where's my Benz?? JK)**, **and **Eriol's bear**!

Thankies everyone! 


	6. Reality Blues

Title: Fragments

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Yes, this is sadly the end folks. It's been fun! And thank you for everyone bitching at me that the last chapter was funny. It really didn't seem that way to me after rereading it several times to edit it. ~sob~ Life is so hard. Perhaps if I was smart I would just get a Beta reader. ~sigh~ Well yes, just to warn you, this isn't very funny. Really! Well at least not like the other chapters. But that's cause its reality. Right? ~looks around frantically~ I'm just going to go now . . .

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot! It's mine! MINE I SAY! 

****

Fragments

Epilogue

Reality Blues

And in the waking world, Ginny Weasley's eyes flew open . . .

Ginny stared up at the ceiling. The light was dim yet it seemed more real than anything had for the past day. 'So it was all a dream,' she thought with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. 'All of it. No teachers signing. No mullets. No kiss from Malfoy.' She shook her head. 'Why would a Malfoy want to kiss me anyway?'

She continued to stare up at the ceiling and noted that the tiles seemed a little dirty. Yet they were none the less real. Ginny blinked. She peered up at the ceiling as though seeing it for the first time. Something was wrong with it. Her four poster had a canopy. She couldn't see the ceiling.

Snapping her head away she quickly looked around the room. Indeed, she was not in her dorm room. She was in the infirmary. And to the right of her, not two feet from her, lay Draco Malfoy wearing an expression that mirrored her own.

There was a bandage around his head, causing tufts of blonde hair to stick out. Ginny had one herself but paid it no notice. Malfoy's lip was cut and his left eye was black. It seemed that all the wounds he had received in his battle with Riddle actually happened. Her eyes widened.

"It was real?" she tried to ask him, but no sound came forth. He stared at her for a moment then shrugged. He began to pull himself into a position when Madame Pomfrey entered the room.

"You're awake!" she said cheerfully, surprise and relief evident in her voice. She quickly walked over to them and stuck a thermometer in each of their mouths. Where the thermometer came from Ginny had no idea. She suspected it was in one of the woman's many pockets. "You two have had us all very worried." Ginny tried to respond. "Dear, you will have lost your voice. The medication I gave you took care of that. It should wear off in a few days." She took the thermometers from their mouths. "But it seems that your fevers have gone down, so I will go make the potion to bring them back." With that the matron bustled out of the room and down the hall.

Ginny sat up and turned to Malfoy. He was sitting up as well now, staring at her. She smiled at him. A gesture he did not return. She felt a pang in her chest and the smile faded.

"Ginny!" someone cried as the door to the infirmary flew open. She snapped her head in that direction and saw her brother, Ron, hurrying towards her, a look of sheer relief on his face. Hermione was right behind him, a similar look on her face. Harry was behind her. To Ginny's slight disappointment, he did not have a greasy mullet.

Ron snatched her up into a tight hug and did not let go. She hugged him back just as hard, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. 

"We were so worried, Gin," he said, finally letting go of her. "Madame Pomfrey said you might not wake up." He turned and looked darkly at Malfoy, who was watching the scene with mild interest. "And it was all that git's fault."

"What?!" Ginny tried to gasp, forgetting she didn't have a voice. 

"What's wrong?" Ron demanded, snapping his head back to her when he realized that no sound was coming from her mouth. "Why can't you talk?" He turned to Hermione then Harry with panic on his face.

"Ron you blockhead," Hermione hissed. "They gave her a Plantictus potion. She doesn't have a voice. Don't you remember Madame Pomfrey saying that? Even I told you that! Don't you ever listen?!"

Ginny let out a silent giggle. Which was more like a shoulder shake since she technically couldn't giggle. It seemed that nothing had changed. Ron and Hermione still bitched like there was no tomorrow. 

"Shut up," he snapped at Ginny, making her giggle harder. Ron looked at her angrily then seemed to remember that there was another person in the room. He turned away from Ginny and looked directly at Malfoy who was smirking. "I bet you think this whole thing's funny, don't you?" he demanded, taking a menacing step towards the blonde. "She could have _died_ for all you care!"

"Ron," Harry and Hermione both warned. Harry latched onto the back of Ron's shirt. It seemed as though Ron had expressed his feeling about the incident ahead of time. What ever he planned to do, his friends obviously didn't approve. Well at least, not at the moment.

'Bloody hell,' Ginny thought impatiently, her brother's temper getting on her nerves once again as it had a nasty little habit of doing. She shot out a hand and tightly gripped her brother's arm. He turned and looked at her and she angrily shook her head. The last thing she needed was for the Dream Team to kill her savior, even if he was acting like an ass at the moment.

"What are you going on about Ginny?" Ron demanded. "The coward shoved you down the stairs and then fell down himself! Snape found you two at the bottom of the stairs after Peeves was going mad."

Ginny glanced at Malfoy to see his reaction to the accusation. He didn't even seem phased. She turned back to her brother in frustration. She tried to speak again, but as before, nothing came out. She closed her eyes in frustration. She had to tell them what had happened.

Madame Pomfrey walked back into the room, two goblets in her hands. She stopped when she saw Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"What are you three doing here?" she demanded, her once cheerful face turning angry.

Harry looked guilty and it was then that Ginny noticed the invisibility cloak behind his back. They must have been prowling about the halls for some reason when they heard Madame Pomfrey and came running. She looked over past Malfoy to the window behind him to see it was night outside.

The matron stared at the three of them angrily then turned her attention back to her two charges. "You three had better leave before Professor Dumbledore arrives. You know how strict he has been about these two." Ginny felt her stomach drop. What did she mean by that? She looked over to Malfoy but he was glaring at Harry, who in turn was glaring back.

The door to the hospital wing opened once more to give way to Albus Dumbledore. He didn't seem surprised in the slightest to see the other three students there. In fact, he seemed quite pleased.

"Mr. Weasley," the old man said cheerfully. "I'm glad you're here." Ron looked in surprise at the headmaster. "You're parents will be arriving shortly. Can you and your friends please meet them in the Great Hall and wait for me to return."

"Alright," Ron said, confusion clouding his face. Ginny waved goodbye since she couldn't say as much.

"Here you go dears," Madame Pomfrey said shortly, after the trio had left. She handed both Ginny and Malfoy a goblet each. "Drink up." 

Glancing at Malfoy then warily at the contents, Ginny downed the fluid. It was as foul tasting as she expected it to be. As soon as the liquid touched her throat it began to tingle.

"Thank you Poppy," Dumbledore said to the nurse. 

"I'll leave you three now," she said and made to leave. "If you need me I'll be in my office."

Dumbledore pulled a chair up and placed it between both Malfoy's and Ginny's beds. He sat down and smiled at them.

"I am guessing that you both have gone through an awful lot," he said kindly, looking them both in the eye in turn. Ginny nodded her head. Malfoy looked on impassively. "But the best thing you can do right now is to tell me exactly what happened. I know you probably don't want to, but I need to know. You will feel much better after wards, I can assure you."

Ginny glanced once again at Malfoy, who looked at her impassively, then began. She started with the rain and Hagrid's hut and then Peeves, trying to leave nothing out. Malfoy would add things every now and then with large amounts of arrogance. Dumbledore smiled at her description of his race with Voldemort and she mentally sighed at this. In the end she left out her and Malfoy's kiss for it was rather embarrassing.

"And then I woke up," she concluded, avoiding Malfoy's gaze and looked earnestly at the headmaster.

"So it was as I feared," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Riddle was hiding in your head. I had a feeling something like this would happen but did not want to tip him off by doing anything. I'm just surprised that he waited so long."

"He said it took him a while to figure out how to get me," Ginny offered.

"Yes, you said that," Dumbledore replied, seemingly lost in thought.

"Sir," Ginny began after a few minutes of silence. "There's one thing that I still don't understand." Dumbledore looked at her expectantly. "If Riddle didn't pull Malfoy into my head, who did?"

"You," he responded simply.

"What?" Ginny and Malfoy gasped at the same time.

"Why and how?" Ginny managed, mind reeling. 'I never knew I had the power to do _that_.'

"Sometimes, Miss. Weasley," Dumbledore began evenly. "When the mind is in great distress is reaches out for an anchor. In your case it was Mr. Malfoy here. Since you are magical, and so is he, when you were pulled into your mind you drug him with you. And since you were both unconscious at the time of the transfer, it took you a while to realize it."

"Oh," was all Ginny could say. So it had been here fault. Malfoy had been drug into it.

"You are actually quite fortunate that he was there," he added, seeing the look on her face. "I think it benefited you both in your own ways." His eyes twinkled mysteriously and Ginny frowned slightly at what he meant by it. "Now I think your parents want to see you both," the headmaster said kindly, rising to his feet.

Ginny glanced once again at Malfoy but he didn't seem to have reacted to the prospect of seeing his father. He simply asked a question.

"Professor," he said and the old man turned to look at him. "Exactly how long were we unconscious for?"

"Bear in mind," Dumbledore began. "That time passes much differently in your mind than it does in the waking world." Ginny now held her breath. There was no way they could have been in her mind for more than a day. Perhaps two. "You were both unconscious for nearly three weeks."

Ginny blinked.

"Three weeks," Malfoy said quietly to himself, his eyes going slightly wider than usual. "Thank you," he muttered.

Ginny watched Malfoy for a moment, who seemed to be off somewhere in La La land. When she looked over to Dumbledore she discovered he had left. A few minutes latter he returned with the Malfoy and Weasley clans in tow.

Her parents were so relieved that she was alright that they had much the same reaction that Ron had had. And she welcomed it with open arms. She never got to see how Malfoy's parents reacted for they had drawn the screen, blocking the families' views from each other. 

She had hoped it was going well until she heard something that made her heart break. Well more like shatter into hundreds, perhaps thousands of little pieces. She was surprised she even heard it over the chatter her parents, Ron and co made. But hear it she did. Malfoy's voice, cold and hard saying: "Father, I hate the Weasley girl. I did what I had to, to get out of there."

And that had been that. She had fought back her tears and listened to Ron go on and on about how terrible it must have been to have a Malfoy inside her head. As of late she didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.

A while latter she pleaded a headache and her family left her to rest, assuring her that they would be back in the morning. She promptly smothered her head with a pillow to save herself from the embarrassment of the Malfoy family hearing her cry.

~*~

Much latter that night Ginny was having problems sleeping. She had cried herself to sleep, woke up and tossed about for a few hours trying to get back to sleep. But it seemed she was wide awake.

'Great,' she thought sarcastically. 'I am now an insomniac. What's next? An evil little voice telling me that I am destined for greatness and that I should take over the world?'

She stopped and listened, but the voice never came. Sighing in disgust at herself, Ginny kicked away her sheets and got up. Compelled by an unknown reason, she walked around the divide, past Malfoy's bed without looking at him, to the window.

It was dark outside, yet she could see the wind pulling at the trees. Teasing them like a cat plays with a mouse. Which was how she felt. She felt played. Used. Battered around then tossed aside.

'Stupid Riddle,' she thought angrily, then seeing the reflection of the bed in the window behind her, felt her anger grow. 'Stupid Malfoy.'

"Ginny," someone said to her left. She snapped her head around to see Malfoy standing there, dark rings under his eyes. She momentarily wondered if she looked the same way. She pushed such thoughts away.

"Oh," she said darkly. "So we're on a first name basis again?"

"Excuse me?" he asked looking slightly abashed.

"Don't play stupid Malfoy," she hissed. "I hear what you said to your father. How you did what you had to, to get out."

Understanding flashed across his handsome face. Then anger. The anger stayed.

"Well what would you have rather me say?" he demanded, he pitched his voice. "Daddy, it was all your fault that Riddle was in that Weasley's mind and your fault for making me as I am so I teased her. I got trapped in her mind and had a dandy time, grew to like the girl, saved her life and snogged her senseless." He narrowed his eyes and returned his voice to normal. "Damn it Weasley, if I had said that one of us would most likely be dead right now. And I highly doubt that it would be me."

Ginny remained silent.

"My father is not someone you want to mess around with," Malfoy continued. "If he found out about us, whatever we are, things wouldn't go over too well. It's best if we keep whatever we do a secret. At least for now. Do you understand? I only said what I said to protect you."

Ginny stared at him for a while longer. She could see his honesty and earnestly about what he had said in his eyes. It was all there.

She nodded and smiled slightly. He began a small grin of his own.

"So what are we exactly?" she finally asked.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully. "All I know is that I want whatever it is to be beyond enemies and above a simple acquaintance."

"Alright, Malfoy," she said with a smile. "I agree with you. But I want to get to know you better first. Any chance that I can get inside that blonde head of yours?" She took a step closer.

"We'll see about that," he said smoothly, sending her one of hid fabulous smiles. "How about for starters you call me Draco. Malfoy sounds so cold."

"Alright, Draco," she said softly, bridging the distance between them and capturing his lips with hers.

The End

~*~

A/N: Bah! That's it! I finished it! Yeah me! Ok, I know it wasn't the great, funny ending you were all probably hoping for. But that's because it was an epilogue! Sheesh people! JK! 

Thank You to: **VirtualFaerie**(Why thank you! Now when are _you_ going to finish Au Paire?? I want to know what happens! ~grin~)**, Sila-chan, Angel Black, supergirl**(I wonder if we write to WB if they will put it in the next movie for us . . .)**, Wyltk, dinky**(I couldn't spell if my life depended on it! And I am honored you would want to put my stuff up! ~blushes~)**, txt-eva, KAOS**(I want my Benz! NOW!! JK!)**, Azalai**(Oh, I intend to.)**, stormyfire, Uh the person that didn't sign in, again. Times 3, sade**(he he he. I like your ending better. Oh well.)**, Alice Philemon**(~blushes~ Thanks)**, Strawberri Queen**(I did alright?!?!? JK)**, Yintimes 4**(~blushes furiously~ Wow. I feel real special now! Glad you enjoyed it so much!) **and ToastyToasty**(Yeah, I know. Oh well. Just imagine real hard and pretend he was the whole time . . .)

Anyhoo, thank you for sticking with me and reading this thing to the end. I really really really appreciate it! And thank you SO much to everyone who reviewed! Especially those of you who did it more than once! ~smiles and waves~

Well I am going to go off now. I am in search of my muse and hoping it will return. I want to write some more stuff like this, I just have little inspiration lately. Perhaps I need another vacation . . .

Toodles!

Love,

Tiny Q


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